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Unemployment rate up in northeast Georgia

updated Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 8:43pm

The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the unemployment rate in northeast Georgia rose to 8.2 percent in January, up three-tenths of a percentage point from 7.9 percent in December.

Still, the rate was 9 percent in January 2012.

The rate rose because there were 991 more new claims for unemployment benefits in construction, manufacturing, trade, transportation and warehousing, administrative and support services, health care and social assistance, and accommodations and food services. While the initial claims were up from December to January, they were down by 642, or 15.4 percent, from 4,182 in January 2012. The decline in claims led to an over-the-year drop in the area’s jobless rate.

Metro Athens had the lowest area jobless rate at 6.6 percent, while metro Dalton and the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 11.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January was 8.7 percent, unchanged from December. The rate was 9.3 percent in January a year ago.

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